Who Dominates Learning?

Got an e-mail this morning that was titled “Google’s Dominance in U.S. K-12 Schools Revealed In EdWeek Market Brief Special Report.” According to the summary, Google is now a “bona fide education company” because it meets schools’ demand for “simple, easy-to-integrate products.”

Yay.

Over half of educators say they would hire Google to “increase student achievement.”

Forty-two percent said Chromebooks are the most used “instructional device” in their schools.

G Suite/Google Classroom is the “hands down favorite” when it comes to productivity tools.

And 75% say they will use Google stuff more or “a lot more” over the next five years.

Why the Google love? From the click through article:

Each of the companies has seen its fortunes shift in the fickle school market, where vendors of all sizes struggle to gauge what schools want, which administrators make buying decisions, and whether new products will dazzle educators and students, or simply frustrate them.

When the companies have made their biggest headway — as Google is doing now with Chromebooks and its classroom-productivity tools — it’s typically because they have introduced products that not only meet schools’ distinct needs, but also overcome their stubborn limitations. [Emphasis mine.]

Even the guy picked to provide the pushback misses the point.

“Innovation has suffered,” Friedlander said. The products turned out by the major tech companies do not amount to “groundbreaking stuff that propels teaching into some new realm because of the technology.” [Mine again.]

Because it’s about teaching, achievement, productivity, ease of use, dazzle…

…not learning.

Who dominates that?

Originally published at Will Richardson.com

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